A Fresh Start
Chapter One Hundred Ninety Six
Jeffrey is waiting for Sam at the loft when she gets home. "What are you doing here?" She asks when he meets her at the door.
"I came home early." He says, taking her purse and putting it on the table beside them and takes her hand.
"What are you doing?" She asks as he leads her into their living room and over to the couch.
"Shh, I want you to sit down and I want you to relax. I've taken care of everything for the evening." He says, as she sits down.
"What do you mean you've taken care of everything?" She asks, as he sits down beside her.
"I'm not telling you. It's a surprise. I'm going to sit here with you and I want you tell me about your day."
"You want me tell you about my day."
"Yes."
"There really isn't much to tell you."
"How did the tour of the hospital go?"
"It was fine. I met a lot of the other doctor's in town."
"How was Rick?"
"He was fine, maybe a bit goofy."
"Did anything else happen today?"
She turns to him. "What is this about?
"Why does it have to be about anything?"
"Because you're acting a little guilty, like you've done something you think I'm going to be mad about."
"I haven't done anything, but maybe behave like a fool."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about this afternoon at lunch. I wanted, meant for that lunch to be special and I ruined it by flirting with that girl."
"J, you didn't ruin anything. Maybe I was a little perturbed, but you didn't ruin anything."
"I'm still going to make it up to you." He lays a finger across her lips when she starts to say something. "So, you're going to go into the bathroom and take a long hot bath." He says, standing up and reaching for her hand he helps her up.
"You don't have to do this." She says, standing beside him.
"Shh, and got take a long hot bath and relax."
She shrugs her shoulders before she leans up and kisses him. "I love you."
"I love you too, both of you." He says, kissing her again. "Now go." He says, turning her towards the bathroom. He stands there, watching her. She opens the bathroom door and stops for a moment before she turns to look at him. He walks over to her. "When do you do this?"
"This afternoon, after I asked Billy and his crew to leave and before you got home. I stopped and bought the candles and then I came home and I put them around the tub and over there." He says, pointing to the cabinet above the sink as well as the counter beside the sink. "I didn't run your water, but I can do it now."
"No, I think I can do that. Are you going to join me?" She asks, looking at him.
"As tempting as the offer is, I've got some other things to take care of."
"More tempting than me?" She asks, looking at him with desire in her eyes.
"Nothing is more tempting than you, darlin, but I've got plans and you need to relax."
"You don't have to do this. I'm not mad at you."
"Maybe, you're not mad at me, but I'm mad at myself. This is the most important think and I didn't treat that with much respect this afternoon." He says. She leans up to kiss him.
About a minute later, they are still kissing when someone knocks on their door. He pulls back, releasing her. "Go on in and I'll answer the door."
"What else to you have planned?"
"That would be our dinner, go." He says, as they knock again.
She releases him, going into the bathroom as he goes to answer the door. "Mr. O'Neill." The young man asks, as Jeffrey opens the door.
"Yes." Jeffrey says, pulling out his wallet for the tip.
"The total is $45.75." The young man says.
"I gave my credit care number when I ordered." Jeffrey says.
The young man looks at the ticket again. "That is correct, I apologize, Mr. O'Neill. I misread the receipt."
"It's okay." Jeffrey says, opening his wallet and taking out some cash. "Will there be anything else?" He asks, putting his wallet back in his pocket.
"No, thank you for using Towers for your culinary needs." The young man says, handing Jeffrey the food.
"You're welcome and here is a small tip for you." Jeffrey says, handing him the money.
"Thank you, Mr. O'Neill." The young man says, taking the money with a smile. Jeffrey closes the door as the young man turns away.
When he had gotten home, Jeffrey had put everything in the kitchen so Sam wouldn't see it. That was the other reason he had met her at the door. Putting the food on the counter, he picks up the plates, glasses and silverware and takes them over to the dining table. Sitting the table, he goes back to the kitchen for the candles and the flowers. He had bought two dozen red roses, including a crystal vase at the florist downtown. He places the roses and the candles on the table between them. He's going back to the kitchen as Sam comes out of the bathroom. "You're done already?" He asks, stopping in front of her.
"I'm act…we're actually hungry." Sam says.
"Okay, go upstairs and get into something comfortable and I'll come get you when it's ready."
"J."
"Please, just humor me."
"Okay."
"Don't come down until I come get you." He says, turning her towards the stairs and making sure she can't see around him. She goes upstairs and when he's certain she's not going to peek he goes into the kitchen for the food. Dishing it up quickly, he takes everything back to the kitchen before he checks the take and then goes for the stairs. Sam is sitting on the bed when he comes upstairs. "I thought you were getting into something comfortable.
"I was until I discovered that I can't fit into my favorite jeans." She says, holding up the jeans. He smiles as she looks up. "It's not funny."
"I know it's not, but do you really want to wear jeans."
"You like me in these jeans." She says, holding them up again so he can see which ones she had.
"Yes, I do, but how about putting on some sweats."
"Oh, that's saying I'm going to blow up into a big fat elephant."
"Sam, you're pregnant. You're going to gain weight. I'm looking forward to when you're a big fat elephant."
"Oh, gee, thanks." She says, as she starts to get up.
He reaches out to stop her. "I'm looking forward to it because I know it won't be long until our little boy is here and I know what you will be a beautiful big fat elephant." He says, teasing her as he stands up.
"Don't make fun of me and let me wallow in my self pity, please."
He leans over to kiss her. "Go put some sweats on and then we'll go downstairs and eat."
"I'm not eating." Sam says, turning for the closest.
"Oh yes, you are eating. You can have seconds and dessert, so let's go." He says, gently pushing her towards their closest.
A few minutes later, she comes out in sweats and a t-shirt. As he looks at her he notices a slight bulge around her stomach and when she reaches him, he pulls her to him, laying his hand on her stomach, he whispers. "I love you so much."
"Even if I get to be a big fat elephant." She asks, looking up.
"Especially if you get to be a big fat elephant." He says, kissing her softly before taking her hand, he says. "Close your eyes." She closes her eyes and he leads her out of the room, saying. "Keep them closed, no peeking."
They walk downstairs. He leads her over to the table and then releasing her hand he turns to her as she starts to open her eyes. "No, wait." He says, moving around her. When he's behind her, he says. "You can open them now." Slowly she opens her eyes and then simply stares at the table until he asks. "What do you think?"
"It's beautiful. Where did you get the roses?"
"I had Stace order them after I got back from lunch and I picked them up on the way home." He says, taking her hand and leading her to the table. Pulling her chair out, he holds her chair as she sits down and then he sits down across from her. "When I got home, I called Towers and ordered all of your favorites, even the gateau au choclat fondu."
"Molten chocolate cake!"
"And I have fresh strawberries and vanilla ice cream but you have to eat your dinner before you have dessert." He says, reading the look in her eyes.
"You sound like my father instead of my husband."
"Are you ready to eat?"
"Yes, of course." She says, picking up her fork and knife.
"Oh wait, I almost forgot." He says, reaching for a bottle beside him. "I got some sparkling cider." He says, pouring them each a glass.
She smiles as she takes hers, taking a sip she says, "I'm sorry it can't be wine or champagne."
"I'll sacrifice either one to be here with you and our baby." He says, taking a sip.
They settle into eat. Thirty minutes alter, Sam pushes her plate away. "I can't eat any more, I'm stuffed." She says, wiping her mouth with her napkin.
"You're not going to have any cake?
"Maybe later."
"Alright, then let me clean this up. Go relax and I'll be there as soon as I get this loaded."
"I'll help you load." She says, standing up. He opens his mouth to argue but this closes it when he looks at her.
They clean the table off. Sam loads the dishwasher, while Jeffrey puts the rest of the food away. When they are finished he takes her hand and leads her back into the living room to the couch. She sits down and he sits down beside her.
Lifting his arm, she lays head on his shoulder as she curls her feet under her. He idly plays with her hair. "Are you okay with the plans for the loft?"
"I hate to loose the windows, but Ava and William will need the extra space."
"What about the bathroom?
"I think that's going to be gorgeous. I'm sort of upset that I won't get to use it?
"So, you want to stay here instead of our house."
"No, no, but it's a beautiful bathroom."
"So, you think Ava will like it?"
"Yes, any woman would like it." She says, moving closer to him. "I did take to Billy about something though."
"You did?"
"Yes, he had planned on building a separate shower and bathtub and I suggested keeping both as one unit, but he explained why he chose to do it that way, so it's staying the same and he promises that the end result will be worth it."
I'm sure he'll make it fit for a prince." He says, as she smiles.
"Do you want to watch the scores?"
"No, I want to do exactly what I'm doing right now."
She settles against him and there are a few minutes of silence before she asks. "Can you play for me?"
"Sure." He says, releasing her and getting up. He gets his guitar. The one that she bought him and he sits down beside her again. "Is there something you want to hear?" He asks.
"I don't care." She says, as he nods, starting to play.
Richard, Cassie and the boys pull up to the ball field and as they are getting things together Reva walks up. "Hey, you guys." She says.
"Reva, hi." Cassie says, hugging her while Richard watches.
"Aunt Reva." RJ says, running up to her. "Are you here for my game?"
"Of course, I am." She says, hugging RJ as Will comes up. She hugs him too.
RJ goes over to warm up while Richard, Cassie, Will and Reva walk towards the stands. Two hours later, the game is over. RJ's team won. "Mom, coach is taking the team out for pizza, can we go?" RJ asks, running up to them.
Cassie looks at Richard. "It's up to you." He says.
"We can go, but we're not staying long. You both have school tomorrow." Cassie says, turning to Reva. "Are you going back to the Beacon?"
"Umm, I thought I would go with you guys, but I'll buy my own pizza."
"Are you sure? It's going to be a lot of screaming kids running around."
"We have to celebrate the win." Reva says. "So, I'll meet you there."
"Okay." Cassie says, looking at Richard
An hour later, Richard sits down next to Reva. "Are you having fun?" He asks.
"Yes, but where do they get the energy?"
"I know what you're doing." He says, reaching for his coke as he looks out at the kids.
"What am I doing?"
"You're running, you want to keep yourself busy so you don't think about Josh.'
"I've gone all day without thinking about him."
"Somehow I doubt that is true. Aren't you the one that told that you never run from a situation, no matter how difficult it is?" Reva looks at him and then looks back at the kids. "Reva, it's not like you to give up."
"I haven't given up. I don't know what else to say to him."
"Reva Shayne, without words, that's not possible."
She looks at him and smiles. "This time I can't make the first step, he has too." Reva says, getting up.
"And if he doesn't?" Richard asks, looking at her.
"The balls in his court Richard, there's nothing I can do because I've said all I can say." Reva says, reaching for her purse.
"Where are you going?"
"I think it's time I went home. Tell Cassie I'll see her at the Beacon tomorrow."
"Okay, be careful."
"I will." Reva says, turning to leave.
About five minutes later, Cassie comes up to the table with the boys. "We need to go." She says. Richard gets up as Cassie looks around. "Where's Reva?"
"She left about five minutes ago." Richard replies, as they walk to the car.
"Oh, she didn't say good-bye."
"She said she would see you at the Beacon tomorrow."
"Oh okay." Cassie says, buckling Will into his car seat. "RJ put your seatbelt on." She says, closing Will's door."
Richard starts the car as Cassie gets in. She put her seatbelt on as Richard puts the car in gear, backing out they leave. Twenty minutes later, they pull up to the farm. "I'll get Will." Richard says, parking the car in the garage.
"Okay, RJ you need to get in the bath before you go to bed." She says, getting out of the car.
"Yes ma'am." He replies, getting out of the car.
"Will needs a bath too." Cassie says, turning to the car.
"He's asleep. He can' get on in the morning." Richard says, getting Will out of this car seat.
Jeffrey plays for about twenty minutes. When he finishes his last song, she asks. " Have you every thought about making a record?"
"No, this is something I play around with, it's not meant to be serious."
"I think you're good enough to make a record."
"Well thank you, but I like my life exactly how it is. Can you imagine Josh's reaction if I became a rock star on top all the many other crimes he believes I've committed."
"I think he should be overjoyed, not only by that but by the mere fact that you are his brother. He couldn't have a more loyal one."
"Alright, what's going on."
"Nothing. I just think Josh is a fool to treat you the way he's treated you."
"You're hold demeanor changed when the subject of Josh came up, so what happened."
"I sort of had a bit of confrontation with him this afternoon before I came home."
"You had a confrontation with him, what happened?"
"I was coming out of the cleaners after getting your shirts…."
"Thank you, by the way?"
"You're welcome, anyway I was coming out of the cleaners and he walks by. I wasn't going to say anything but then I decided to."
"Sam."
"I only wanted to talk to him."
"What did he say?
"Nothing more than he's been saying, he's not going to let you ruin his family. He was going to call you something, but I told him I wasn't going to listen to him bash you. And told me to open my eyes. That you're going to use me like you've used everyone else and that's when I got mad."
"What did you do?"
"Nothing terrible, although…." She looks at him. "Alright, I told him that he should open his own eyes. That if his family falls apart and is ruined it will not be because of you. It old that it would be because he's a stubborn judgmental jackass and then I slapped him on the back of his head."
Jeffrey looks at her and smiles before he says. "Technically that's assault and you shouldn't've hit him, but I would have loved to have seen it." He leans over and kisses her.
"Reva liked it too." Sam says, when he sits back.
"She saw you slap him."
"Yes, did you know she's staying at the Beacon?"
"I can't remember. How long has she been staying there?"
"I don't know. But I guess it's been for a few weeks. She doesn't know what to say to him. And she's tired of trying to make him understand."
That's something they have to work out themselves and as to me and Josh and out relationship, I want you to let me deal with it."
"It's not right the way he's treating you. You haven't done anything…."
He lays a finger across her lips. "I know you want to defend me, but getting upset isn't good for you or the baby. So please don't engage him."
"I can't promise that I won't say anything to him, but I'll promise to keep my temper in check." She says, looking at him with half of a smile.
He leans over, kissing her softly. "I love the fact that you want to defend me. But I know men like Josh. He's not going to change his mind because we ask him to."
"Whether or not, he'll change his mind because we ask, I'm not going to let him trash you because he's jealous of something that will not happen."
"Sam…."
She lays a finger across his lips this time. "Let's not argue about Josh, what happened at City Hall."
"Not too much, I told the deputy mayor that I wasn't running for mayor again."
"What did he say?"
"Not too much, he was surprised that I was going to talk to Richard about running. He thinks I might be stacking the deck a little bit."
"Stacking the deck, why would he think that?"
"Because he was considering running himself and I advised him to go ahead, but I made it clear that I would be supporting Richard, if he runs."
"Did you talk to Richard about it?"
"Yes."
"How did he react? What did he say? Is he going to run?"
"He was surprised at first and not sure he could even do it legally, which I told him that he could."
"So, what happened? Did he say that he would run?"
"He said that he would think about it and that he needed to talk it over with Cassie."
"Because of the baby, I can understand that. So you told the deputy may, did you tell anyone else?"
"I didn't tell anyone at City Hall, but I did release it to the press.
"So what do you think the reaction will be?"
"I don't' know." He says, idly playing with the hair on her shoulder.
"So, now that you've decided not to run again, have you thought about what you want to do after the election is over?"
"Maybe, a little bit." He says, as she moves over to him. She moves onto his lap as he sits back.
"What do you want to do?" She asks, laying her head on his chest.
Reaching for the remote, he turns the fireplace on. "Are you cold?"
"A little bit." She says, snuggling closer to him. Sitting up, he pulls the blanket from the back of the couch and wraps it around her. "Thanks." She says, tucking the blanket under her chin. For a while, they sit there watching the flames from the fire before she says. "This reminds me of my grandparents house."
"Your grandparents used to curl up with each other on the couch, wrapped in a blanket and watch the fire."
"I don't know if they did that, but I used to take my blanket and curl up on the couch and watch the fire. Sometimes, I would fall asleep on the couch and Papa would carry me to my bed. My dad hated it, but Papa said that we were at his house the rules at home didn't matter."
"You miss your grandparents."
"Yes, they were the only thing when I was growing up that seemed normal."
After a moment, he asks. "Are you afraid, you'll be like your father?"
"No, I'm afraid I'll be to easy and he'll turn out to be a total heathen."
Jeffrey smiles. "I think with the both of us he'll be fine. Are you still cold?" She shakes her head no and they settle into another long silence.
Thirty minutes later, the boys are in bed. Cassie has had a shower and Richard walks into the bedroom after checking the house. Getting into bed, Cassie moves over to him. Lifting his arm, he lays it around her shoulders. "So, you said your day was busy, what happened?" He asks.
"The usual stuff with running the Beacon, I did talk to my dad."
"You did, what did he say?"
"They're settling in. Olivia is throwing herself into the project. I warned him to watch that and not to let her get too caught up in the project that she forgets to work on what sent her over there in the first place."
"Did he say anything about Sarah?"
"No, JR's still looking for her."
"Are you sure we shouldn't worry about this?"
"Richard we agreed we would worry if there was something to worry about. We have so much going on right now. Do we really need something else to think about?"
"Speaking of something else to think about, Jeffrey called me into his office today."
"He did, did you have a meeting scheduled?"
"No, we're still working out the details with the companies we're working with. No, this had to do with the mayor's office."
"I don't understand. Why would he want to talk to you about the mayor's office?"
"He called me in to tell me that he's not running for mayor again."
"Oh, okay. I guess he would want to be home with Sam right now."
"There's that and the stuff with Josh."
"So, he's not running again. What is he going to do?"
"He didn't say. But he wanted to talk to me about something else."
"Is he going to stop your…."
"No, no, I still have my job. He wanted to talk to me about possibly running for mayor."
"Mayor, you running for mayor, he wanted to talk to you about that."
"Yes, I mean he mentioned that it would be a bit of a step down from running San Cristobel, but he thinks that I should do it."
"Can you even do that? You have… do you have dual citizenship?"
"Yes, he said that the annulment of the death certificate re-instated my dual citizenship. The only thing I would have to do is register to vote."
"Register to vote, can you do that?"
"Yes, you've lived her since we left San Cristobel and the death certificate was revoked, so my address was here at the farm, even though I was in DC. I have established residency."
"Okay, that sounds legal, but you're not a naturally born citizen of the US. And I've forgotten a lot of my civics lessons from school, but I'm pretty sure you have to be a US citizen to run for office."
"According to Jeffrey, you only have to be a naturally born citizen to run for President or Vice President."
"So, legally you could run."
"Legally, yes, I could run. The question is, do I want to or do you want me to?"
"I don't know. What do you want to do?"
"I'm not sure. I will be campaigning for a year. It's going to take up a lot of my time. It will also bring a lot of media attention for you and the boys."
"We can hand the media attention. We've handled it before."
"Yes, we have, but there's something else to consider."
"The baby, we've handled the media before when I was pregnant with Will."
"But that wasn't under these circumstances and you were not a high risk pregnancy and under strict doctor's orders to be a stress free as possible. A year long campaign is stressful even without the high risk pregnancy as a factor."
"If you want to run for mayor, I don't want you to not do it because I'm pregnant. You're going to be overly protective anyway, so how is that going to change anything."
"And what if you loose this baby? We may not get another chance."
"And I could loose this baby at anytime. I don't think it will happen."
"But we don't know that."
"And we don't know that something won't happen tomorrow. We're going to do everything to make sure this baby makes it, but that's out of our hands."
"We don't have to force the issue either."
"Are you going to demand that I'm with you at every campaign function?"
"No, I'll make sure you have to do very little."
"Are you going to put me in situations that put me and the baby at risk?"
"Of course not."
"Then I want you to decide this without worrying about me or this baby, because we both know that we'll do whatever it takes to protect it." Cassie says with a yawn.
"Let's talk about this later. It's time we both get some sleep."
"You don't want to…." She looks into his eyes.
"I will always want to make love with you, but tonight can I simply hold you."
"Of course you can." She says, moving over to her left side. He moves in behinds and she pulls his arms around her. "If you decide to run, we'll be okay. I know we will." She says, as he softly kisses her shoulder.